The U.S. Department of Agriculture cut two programs last week that helped schools and food banks buy locally produced food. The and programs brought to Colorado鈥檚 local food economy over the last two years. Another $13 million dollars was slated for this year, before both initiatives were discontinued by the Trump administration last week.
Through these federal programs, which launched in 2022, schools, food banks and other institutions received extra funding to buy directly from local farmers and ranchers. Supporters described it as a win-win for the local food system.
But according to the USDA, the local food initiatives have outlived their usefulness and are no longer in line with the agency鈥檚 goals.
鈥淎s a pandemic-era program, LFPA will now be sunsetted at the end of the performance period, marking a return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives,鈥� USDA officials said in an emailed statement. 鈥淭he COVID era is over鈥擴SDA鈥檚 approach to nutrition programs will reflect that reality moving forward.鈥�
Through the LFPA, the Food Bank for Larimer County received about $500,000 to buy directly from local farmers since 2022 鈥� enough to buy between 100,000 and 150,000 pounds of produce a year.
鈥淭he (LFPA) program was designed to help provide some economic support for farmers in the form of purchasing products they weren't able to sell anywhere else,鈥� said operations director Josh Green. 鈥淚t had a holistically beneficial outcome of not only supporting farmers in really meaningful ways, and then also providing super fresh local produce to our clients.鈥�
According to Green, the food bank used that money to source food from local farmers markets.
鈥淲e'd have a truck there every week, and we buy up essentially anything that wasn't sold,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e were able to pick it up and distribute it the same day.鈥�
That was huge support for farmers like Laurel Smith, of the Here and Now Farm in Wellington. Smith said she has sold tens of thousands of dollars of produce to the Food Bank for Larimer County and her farm will struggle without that funding.
鈥淭hose of us who sell at farmers market, if we have excess at the end of the day, there really was a need for a solution like this,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 thought this was a very, very elegant solution to both need for fresh, healthy food at the food banks, and it solved a food waste problem.鈥�
Farmer Katie Slota of Native Hills Farm in Fort Collins described her food bank sales as a safety net for farmers.
鈥淚t was wonderful,鈥� Slota said. 鈥淲e knew that everything that we harvested we could sell. When you鈥檙e a farm, and you're selling stuff that needs to be planted four or five months out, and you don't know if you have a buyer, it feels very risky.鈥�
Slota said the food bank sales represented about 15%-20% of her revenue over the past two years. The USDA cuts represent a sizable hole in her budget for the year.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to be a little bit bare bones this season,鈥� she said.
Local food in the school cafeteria
Since 2022 over $2.5 million in LFS funding boosted Colorado school districts鈥� budgets to offer locally produced food to children in lunchrooms across the state.
More than 33 Colorado school districts made use of that funding over the last 2 years. Northern Colorado districts were among the biggest beneficiaries, including just under $1 million for Boulder Valley School District, $238,000 for Greeley-Evans 6, $131,000 for the St. Vrain Valley RE-IJ District and $25,000 for the Fort Morgan School District.
Before the cuts were announced, LFS funding was expected to increase significantly in 2025, topping $7.5 million statewide.
The loss of that budget boost will not affect schools鈥� obligation to provide food to students in the cafeteria, according to Greeley-Evans 6 District Nutrition Services Director Danielle Bock. But it will change where that food comes from. Instead of serving tomatoes from the farmer up the road, they鈥檒l have to source more produce from large, mainline distributors.
鈥淲e won't feed kids less. We won't provide less produce,鈥� Bock said. 鈥淲e just may have to make the decision to buy that produce from a larger aggregator that offers it to us at a lower cost. We will be able to put less money into our local economy.鈥�
In an emailed statement, the Colorado Department of Education said the termination of the Local Food for Schools program would not affect any current grantees whose funding runs out at the end of this school year. The agency also pointed to other programs supporting local food purchases and reaffirmed the state鈥檚 commitment to expanding farm-to-school activity.
鈥淥ur Nutrition team remains committed to ensuring that school districts have the assistance they need to keep students well-fed and healthy,鈥� the statement said.
But Danielle Bock said that school districts will sorely feel the loss of LFS money starting in the 2025-26 school year.
鈥淭his cut doesn't benefit our local economies,鈥� Bock said. 鈥淎nd it doesn't benefit our school children, the people who are standing in the line at the food bank, or our local farmers. It seems like a lose-lose all the way around.鈥�
